


Heard it Through the Grapevine

by A_F_S_M_A_S



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang Week 2021, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29720850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_F_S_M_A_S/pseuds/A_F_S_M_A_S
Summary: There are many rumors about the avatar.Aka,Everybody thinks that Aang is a thot.Aang Week, Day 7Prompt: Love
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	Heard it Through the Grapevine

There are many rumors about the avatar.

Despite his status as a world leader, despite all the power he has, the great hope he inspires, the peace he leaves in his wake, most of them are about who he’s in love with.

He’s a public figure, but his private life is just that: private.

With such personal secrecy and so many active imaginations around the world, rumors were inevitably going to pop up.

* * *

There’s a rumor about the avatar, how the boy from the iceberg was freed by the last waterbender of the south. They say the ocean spirit led her and her brother to the hidden location of his icy prison. With a wave of her right hand she pulled the iceberg out of the water, and with a wave of the left she split it in two, not only saving him but the world as well.

“She even brought him back from the brink of death after he was injured in battle!” one gossiper says to another with stars in her eyes.

“I saw a play once where Lady Katara said she only loved him as a brother.”

“Then clearly that writer didn’t do their research!”

“I saw them in Omashu together,” a third gossiper mentions. “There was nothing sisterly about the way she was around him.”

“I heard she was visiting a city once in her duties as ambassador,” says a fourth. “The city’s magistrate made the mistake of badmouthing the avatar to her face, and by the end of the week the magistrate was dead.”

“I heard that guy died in a drunken bar brawl with his advisers.”

The gossiper shrugs. “Maybe, or maybe it’s just a really good idea to never insult the avatar where the waterbender can hear you.”

* * *

There’s a rumor about the avatar, that he’s more than brothers-in-arms with the young chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Many times throughout history, comrades whose bond was forged in war had their relationship preserved in poems, songs, plays, and myths. The love between a peacemaker and a warrior, both of whom are world leaders, is prime material for any good writer.

“I saw the two of them at a state dinner! The chief was making the avatar snicker all night! You should have seen the look on his face.”

“The way I hear it, Chief Sokka is quite the comedian.”

“Yes, but he was apparently at his funniest whenever he was talking to the avatar.”

“One can only imagine how many jokes they share, just between the two of them.”

* * *

There’s a rumor about the avatar, that he is secretly the fire lord’s consort. The irony of Sozin’s great-grandson being a lover of Avatar Roku’s reincarnation is not lost on anyone. Some even go so far as to call the avatar a concubine to make the story sound more scandalous. 

Despite his speeches of hope, redemption, and issuing in a new era of peace and love, the fire lord is such a reserved figure. But whenever the avatar is in his sights, he smiles from ear to ear.

“Fire Lord’s Zuko stoic persona crumbles whenever the avatar comes to visit.”

“He betrayed his own father to join him and end the war. He taught the avatar firebending. What further proof is necessary?”

“Enemies one day, friends the next, and lovers the day after that. The saga practically writes itself.”

The gossipers can’t decide if it’s more salacious if their relationship has the blessing of the fire lady or not.

* * *

There’s a rumor that the avatar is involved with the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. They say she fell in love with him when he tamed the Unagi, a great sea serpent of the island’s waters, and used it to save her home from the Fire Nation. They say she inspired him to break her people’s neutrality and join the war effort.

“Did you see him at the summit? He was surrounded by an entire squad of the Kyoshi Warriors, and Suki was at his side the whole time!”

“One has to wonder why the most powerful man in the world would feel the need to have protection,” a gossiper says with a knowing smile.

“Perhaps Lady Suki reminds him of his past life.”

“Or perhaps the avatar has a fondness for strong women.”

“You don’t think he… might be involved with all of the Kyoshi Warriors?”

“I mean, can you blame them? I wouldn’t mind getting into that arrangement!”

* * *

“Did you see the avatar talking to that earthbender over there?”

“The one with the mustache? Yeah, I could him and that fuzzy thing a mile away.”

“They seem awfully friendly with one another.”

“They’re just talking-”

It is then that the avatar laughs at something Haru says and briefly touches his arm.

“DID YOU SEE THAT!?”

“I DID!”

* * *

There’s a rumor about the avatar, that his relationship with Master Mechanist Teo is more than professional. People say that the avatar found him and his people as new settlers of the Northern Air Temple, that he was so blown away by the technical ingenuity of Teo and his father that he allowed them to stay, living alongside the new Air Acolytes. They even say Master Teo designed the glider that the avatar uses.

“Can you imagine it? Flying side by side with your lover. No one to bother you, no one to interrupt you. Just the two of them and the clouds!”

“I think someone ought to get their head out of those clouds and back down to Earth.”

“Oh, spoilsport! Where’s your inner romantic?”

* * *

There’s a rumor about the avatar, that he fell in love with Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe at first sight. When he flew out against the encroaching Fire Nation armada, single handedly sinking ships left and right, she dutifully waited in the palace for his return.

“The avatar is a peaceful man. He even spared Ozai’s life, yet his rage was unfettered at the Northern Water Tribe. What else could spark such violence in a pacifist but the raw, unyielding vengeance of a grieving lover?”

“I heard he was possessed by the spirit of the ocean, who sought to avenge the spirit of the moon for an offense done against it by the Fire Nation.”

“Exactly! Just as the ocean fought for the moon, the avatar fought for the princess!”

* * *

There’s a rumor about the avatar, that he’s in love with his earthbending teacher, the blind warrior who invented the new art of metalbending. They know she’s a daughter of the great Beifong family that was once hidden away, but no one can agree why. Who would make a secret of having such a powerful and wise daughter?

“Lady Beifong’s daughter has no recognized father. Perhaps she wished to raise the girl without the avatar’s involvement.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Who wouldn’t want their children to have a dad like the avatar?”

“Perhaps their tryst ended on a somber note.”

“I saw them in public once. They didn’t exactly look somber. Hell, they were both smiling and laughing with each other. I even heard that Lady Beifong addresses the avatar with pet names.”

“Really!? Oh, I bet they’re adorable!”

“I heard she calls him Twinkle Toes.”

“...Twinkle Toes? Who the hell calls their lover Twinkle Toes?”

“Perhaps the avatar has a unique sense of humor. Perhaps Lady Beifong is the only one who he will allow to address him in such ways.”

* * *

Meng is happy enough for Aang, and their reunion as adults is respectful, even cordial.

She still calls his significant other a floozy in private.

* * *

“I heard a curious little tale about the avatar and Lady Ursa-”

“Wen, shut the fuck up.”

* * *

“They say Fire Lady Mai and Lady Ty Lee abandoned the princess while the war was still going on. Perhaps the avatar persuaded them to join his side.”

“The man’s silver tongue gets him into the good graces of kingdoms and city-states all over the world. Not hard to imagine that he would use those linguistic skills on such beautiful women.”

“A triad? Lady Ty Lee is certainly bubbly enough to get along with the avatar, but the fire lady? She’s so…”

“Perhaps that’s the appeal for her. That he is a man so antithetical to her own sensibilities.”

“Do you think the fire lord knows?”

“Do you think he approves?”

* * *

It’s not really a rumor, but more of a legend. 

For some, it is a ghost story passed around at the campfires of the descendants of Fire Nation soldiers and Earth Kingdom townsfolk. They tell of vengeful spirits who take the forms of children and haunt the red forest, attacking anyone who offends them, even children and old men. The only way you would know they were coming would be by their eerie whistle, but by the time you hear it it’s too late. They’re already on you. They’re led by a merciless demon with iron hooks in the place of hands, who takes no prisoners and will break any promise. They say the demon stole the powers of a water spirit and can turn gentle rivers into lethal floods. Some say the demon is so strong that only the avatar can defeat him.

For others, it’s an urban myth. There were many in the days following the morning that the Dai Li brought down the walls of Ba Sing Se to let the Fire Nation in. Some talk about a young man, no older than sixteen or seventeen, who was arrested by the Dai Li after dueling with the nephew of the best tea maker in the city. The young man was never heard from again, though some claim they had seen him walking the streets following this incident. Others claim they saw him with the avatar.

It’s that association with the avatar that gives a lighter edge to some retellings. What most had written off as a crazed hooligan or a dangerous dissident becomes a hero of the people in the eyes of those who wish to see one. The avatar must have fought tooth and nail to protect Ba Sing Se. Some say he nearly died trying to save it from the Fire Nation. Perhaps the young man with the hook swords had given his life trying to defend the freedom of the Earth Kingdom.

It’s this version that inspires a playwright to craft a tragedy that plays to sold out performances every night in the Upper Ring. The protagonist, who wears a different name, one that sounds better in the ears of the rich and the elite, is an orphan and a refugee turned into a dangerous rogue and guerilla fighter with a penchant for giving rousing speeches and telling sweet lies. The hero’s beastly ways are tamed not by an enemy, but by the love of the avatar. The plot primarily focuses on unraveling the conspiracies leading up to the infamous coup, but it’s the romance that really draws in the crowds. In act five’s climax, the avatar is dying from a wound inflicted by the wicked Fire princess. The hero draws his swords and tells the healer to take the avatar to safety while he fends off the approaching Dai Li agents. He gives one last speech before he and the curtains fall, singing of the greatness of the Impenetrable City, harkening back to the prologue where, as a boy, he grew up on stories of Ba Sing Se. He mourns how he cannot enjoy the city further with the avatar, but is glad to meet an honorable death in the defense of his two great loves. The speech does not leave a single dry eye in the house.

In the Lower Ring, the same version that inspires the playwright creates something very different. A group of youths take the story of Jet as the inspiration to form an organization to champion for reforms, to stand up for their rights, to fight for better lives for the poor and downtrodden of the city. A pair of crossed hook swords becomes their insignia.

Once, only once, does a customer of the Jasmine Dragon try to ask the owner for the truth of this curious tale with so many versions, and how such a fine tea maker is involved in it. Iroh just smiles and bows his head, saying that he doesn’t know what the man is talking about.

He’s lying. Aang had told him long ago how that story really ended. Iroh will never give out such details, if only out of respect for Aang, and for the archer and swordswoman sitting at the other table nearby.

* * *

There’s a rumor that the princess of the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Ozai’s favored child, fell in love with the avatar when he bested her in battle. She had been raised from birth to only value perfection in all things. The avatar, a master like no other, an icon of the strength that the Air Nomads wielded, proved to be the kind of perfection that she idolized. They say her attack against him in the catacombs was a refutation of those feelings. Any love she might have felt for him would have been treason to her nation and her father. Her mind could not handle the inner conflict he inspired in her, so she struck him down.

No one knows what became of the princess after Ozai’s defeat. They say the fire lord and the master waterbender took her down, but no one knows what happened afterwards.

Maybe the avatar knows where Princess Azula is.

* * *

There’s a rumor that the avatar has a harem. They say that the Air Nomads didn’t view marriage, gender, and sexuality as the other three nations do. Love was freely given and fervently received. They saw the soul as boundless, and the ways it expressed itself were innumerable. They may have divided their four temples between men and women, but they did not adhere to any rigid, binary perspective on life.

The wisdoms of Air Nomad culture are, unfortunately, lost on much of the world in favor of simpler interpretations.

“The avatar is the only airbender, after all. Rebuilding his nation will take a… passionate resolve.”

The entire group descends into giggling, like schoolchildren hiding a discussion they don’t want their teacher to overhear.

* * *

So many rumors, but only one gossiper ever works up the courage to try to respectfully pry an answer out of the avatar. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to not only meet but also be working alongside the master of the four elements. It’s an opportunity that cannot be missed.

“Avatar, sir, would it be alright if I ask you a question?”

“Go for it,” he says in a voice so casually affable that it almost rids the inquirer of his nervousness.

“Well, it’s just… there are these rumors about you, and I wanted to ask if there was any truth to them.”

“Who’d you hear these rumors from?”

The man awkwardly shrugs. “Oh, you know… people. ...them.”

Avatar Aang just laughs. “They have a lot to say about me, don’t they?”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Aang Week, everybody!
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Sincerely,  
> A.F.S.M.A.S.


End file.
